Help! Lost folder numbers with ZB 5.0

[puttick]

I recently downloaded and upgraded to Zoombrowser 5.0.

Previously my images were numbered for example 124_2945.jpg

Now, only with images downloaded in the new version, I find they are numbered img_2946.jpg

Though in the EXIF, and on the camera display, the file number is 124_2945

I do not understand why this has changed, and I cannot find an option in ZB to change it back. Obviously file numbering with a folder number is a better system as it is both easier to identify an image and less likely to lead to inadvertent overwriting.

Can anyone help?

Thanks.

[puttick]

Somebody must know the answer to this...please?

[Jon]

There isn't. This changed 'way back in about ZB 3.something and I hated it. I now d/l each folder complete and do a command line rename to the "earlier" format.

Which camera are you using? As I understand the numbering scheme for any of the double and triple digit Ds, IMG_2946.JPG should come from \DCIM\129CANON\IMG_2946.JPG, not \DCIM\124CANON\IMG_2945.JPG. The first two digits in the IMG number are the last two of the folder number, so only every 10,000 shots would you get a possible duplicate.

[Mark Kemp]

I never noticed this.

I download each days shooting into a new folder on the PC called by a name like 'Water Fall Feb 04' or something to give me a clue what might be in them.

Then I also have the file name changed to something related to the title like WF_001, WF_002 etc during download. It seems happy with this and never changes letters in the way that you say it does numbers. This scheme may not suit you but it does work and I can usually find my pictures quite quickly.

I have hardly ever gone past 999 with the same letters but I think it adds an extra _2 or something on the end to avoid duplicates.

[puttick]

Which camera? this has only happened SINCE upgrading from ZB 4.6 (not 3.x) and has been applied to images from my Ixus 400, 300d (which I sold 2 days ago) and 350d (from when I bought it 2 days ago). Up until then I had been happily getting images numbered with directory numbers consecutively, not IMG_xxxx.jpg, as I used my CF cards interchangeably between the Ixus and the 300d. It is nothing to do with the 350d, I have not even installed the software for that camera yet.

I am interested in your comment about numbering, and will look into that further.

Thanks
Nigel

[puttick]

"The first two digits in the IMG number are the last two of the folder number, so only every 10,000 shots would you get a possible duplicate."

Now that is interesting. As Jon says, the last 2 digits of the folder number are always the first two of the four digit number. For example, 124_2473.jpg or 129_2961.jpg. I guess this implies that each folder has a max of 100 images (numbered xx00 through xx99), and only after 100 folders (x00 to x99) will the four digit pattern repeat, in other words after 10,000 images. So in other words, under the new system, the above 2 examples would be img_2473.jpg and img_2961.jpg.

I am less concerned now, and I can see that it avoids redundant information, still guards against duplication and possibly makes image files easier to identify if lost (img*.jpg) somewhere on your disk. But I still wish it hadn't changed. The image serial number embedded in the exif data is still 124-2473 in the above example and I don't see why that can't also be the file name.

I do download into directories of my own construction, always dated according to the day of download, e.g. 04_25, nested within directories named by year, e.g. 2005, and sometimes with a suffix indicating the subject, e.g. /images/canon/2005/04_25_family ... so I can generally find anything I want quite quickly.

Does anyone know why it changed and if it can be turned back to the original format?

Thanks
Nigel

[Jon]

Downloading from my 20D card (via card reader) with ZB 4.6, I get IMG_ ???? as the file name. You'll find that the 350D comes with a new utility, EOS Viewer Utility; ZB doesn't like the CR2 raw formats.

[Mark Kemp]

I have a d30 and ixus v3 which both work with ZB (any version) and a 20D that doesn't really, but I can get it to download from a card reader not the camera. There was a related thread about this recently.

But I have always used names rather than numbers for my files so I haven't sen the problem you describe at all. I find a recognisable name more informative than a date, as I can never remmember when I took anything any way.

[puttick]

Well, I reckon I can learn to work around it. But I was happy the way it was before...(sigh)